The Knowhere Guide

Inside Information in Reading, Berkshire*

Reading, Berkshire Hookup Spots and Stuff Only Locals Know

Hook-up Spots (That hallowed spot where everyone hangs around with their mates dreaming of the time when they can get into the pubs or clubs - a bench, a corner: you name it.)

• Prospect park is great to take a bird or just hang wiv your mates. Don't go to near the flats on the bath road if you ain't looking to score. The footie pitches is prety good and riding bikes down the hill by the mansion house is a formidable past time.
• forbury gardens!WAS wikkid, now full of mini mosh and 16yr olds that hang out with their mates.theres loadsa epps but it ent like where u can b friendly everyone hates ppl not in ur group everyone drinks n smokes joints its all police filled not fun!!!however to have lunch during work or bring mates in if ur not in reading often is a good place trees and grass lovely:)
• why is it that no one has mentioned the cubby hole in the corner of the forbury, this is a gr8 place for hooking up and getting waisted (till the street wardens come)i have had amany good times here whith the usual forbairians. please lets all reunite in the gdns and hold the bigest gang bang in history of the lion!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and jason KEEP IT REAL!!
• The forbury!!! its a legend and nutty jason is no longer allowed, every one is freindly to non judgemental people (it helps it ur a mosher,goth,alternative ect)
• Caversham skate park its near the station and not as bad as it repped to be theres a cool group of skaters there on saturday who dont mind beginners and theres no trouble with trevs townies or whatever and a cool street sweeper comes to busk for a go on your skateboard.
• There are tons of pigs hooked up in Gilberts butchers on the oxford road.
• Forbury! It rules, but be warned, the police presence has noticably upped recently, and if ur not a mosher or goth etc. then Nutty Jason or any of his mates will have a "word" with you, and if you are feeling thirsty there is a drain cover near the water fountain, lift it up and uunderneath is a water pump which, upon turning the handle, provides clean drinking water, but dont get caught using it or the gardeners may start 2 lock it.
• Alfred Sutton Playing Field used to be the hook up spot years ago when we were too young to drink in pubs. Thunderbird stills tastes disgusting.
• Clearly outside virgin for all the pikeys and rudeboys among the reading massive. uni gardens for the eastside crew. under the oxford road bridge westside. cav court, watch out for killer swans. the island. riverside in summer. abbey ruins for those intimate moments, or in fact spliffs. hmv in general. and the legendary forbury..quite often overrun with 13yr old white boy pikeys and mini moshers but you get respect.
• THE FORBURY! - possibly the best place in the world. Behind the library is good too. Its a gr8 place to hangout and get stoned and pissed!
• The band stand in the 4bury were we come to meet the othrs usually, were you will b greeted by nutty jason wiv a friendly drunken lick on the face and a light punch to the bollox (and thats wat he does to his friends so b ware trevs don't mess wiv him)
• ...well, down by the canal, i reckon..waterloo meadows way is nice
• the forbury, the greatest place ever everyones nice even Jason he looks after us younger moshas.The boiler room everyones friendly...if your a mosha. ok and we're nice to trevs.
• Forbury! come get off ure face, smoke sum reefa, hang out or do all three. if ure trev, pikey or townie im sure someone will wilingy beat u shitless so dont come. moshers and greebs welcome. unless ure mini-mosh
• riverside at the oracle in summer. cav court but beware of the demon swan. forbury, obviously, however these days it is overrun with mini moshers. mandela court if you want to get shot. palmer park if you're 13 and want to drink cider.
• Forbury is always the classic place to get beaten up if your a trev, or have a laugh if your open minded, just be warned of all the 12 yr olds, its getting younger everyday.
• skatepark beacause all the skaters go there at least once on the weekend
• Forbury Gardens. Anyday of the week or at weekends just People chilling out and relaxing. Don't beleive that if you are not mosher/goth/skater that you will get beaten up. Its just made up. Unless you come in to find truoble and want a fight that is. Just a genral hangout place away from the hussle and bussle of the town center. Great people here I am freinds with most people who regulary come down hear. Most of the teeny skateboarders are down the skatepark(well its just a few steps and a slope but they still think its the best place to be)
• The seats next to the river at the Oracle
• Forbury Gardens or by the steps outside Boiler room. Everyone is so friendly and you jst chat to anyone. Cav Skate Park is good too, especially if ur a single gal coz there are always lads down there! Forbury Hill is a good palce too, sit under the tress and look out over Forbury Gardens. Lovely place to be if the sun is too hot.
• The Forbury has been the place for at least 20 years - but don't go near there at night, or on your own (especially women, unless your name is Buffy) - it's top spot for nasty people out to do damage. Lunchtimes are usually OK though - loads of students and skateboarders. Also squirrels who are quite tame and fun to watch. When I lived in Reading we were always told 'The Story of the Forbury Lion': allegedly the sculptor who crafted the lion believed it to be his greatest achievement - until it was erected and some know-it-all pointed out that it's walking the wrong way. (I think 2 of the legs (on the same side) are off the ground at once, which isn't how a lion would walk, or it would fall over) but I'm a bit hazy on exactly how they do walk...) Apparently the sculptor committed suicide because of it.
• hook up spot is really in 4bury tha bandstand or at tha train station where all tha hobos r lookin for half eaten food or cider but i love 4bury its great i all the ppl there kermit hes 1 of the best ppl in 4bury am his mate awwwwwww n um bubbles is so funny n jason smells really badly n wrestles wiv his invis tag team partener but every1 there is great n all of them bite so do in other things lol (dont ask) !!! n have random orgies n we all drink n um do stuff lol oh u have to watch out for some ppl tho eg=me(kate)kermit,bubbles,fang,martin,hannah,laura,jason,mandylol n jason coz he smells really bad all of us really all of us r scarey
• our fave hook-up spot is the little cafe down the Harris Arcade. Everyone seems to pass it by in favour of going down the Forbury to smoke or drink, but if you don't fancy it, then the Harris Arcade is the place to be!
• Anywhere around the graveyard near 'The Pier' and the oracle
• Forbury Gardens, Home of The World's Biggest Lion, teenage skateboarders, rats and muggers.
• Forbury gardens- forbury gardens is da best place to hang out. on sunny days is it lovely, u jst hang out wit mates and play football, frisbee or just sunbathe
• Forbury Gardens. A good spot to go after dark if you want to get raped. DO NOT go here attempting to hook up (male or female) unless you are armed to the teeth. In fact don't even walk past it as people have been dragged in.
• Forbury Garden - Please if you are a Townie, Tref, Wigga or Pikie please stay away unless you wanna get beaten up.
• Best Place is Forbury Gardens
• Forbury Gardens- best place to be if ya a mosher or a goth come over. You could hardley miss Nutty Jason as he is always running shouting and chasing away townies out. Kermit, Fang and Bubbles three of the funnist and Loveist guys you will ever meet but watch out for Kermit and Fang they bite. Its a lovely atmosphere and its greajust to hang everyday.
• If only!!
  No, really, if only!
• Forbury Garden's. it's nr the town centre. only if you're a mosher though
• the benches outside waterstones/marks and spencers..
• Reading stations as always.....
• Forbury gardens is the best place to hang round, just dont take you phone cos it'll get chaffed.
• Mandella Court, used to be good for smoke, but is a little pricey (altho it is a guaranteed place).
• The best and friendliest place in Reading in the summer is the Caversham riverside down near the rowing club. Take some tinnies, sit, and watch the world go by. I also like it up on Ballmore park where you can look out over the whole town.
• Forbury gardens - if you want to be harassed by 14 year old crack addicts badgering you to finish your beer (to use the can) and DEMANDING you give them a pin !?!, used to be a nice place untill Reading had a prolaps. If this is your style then maybe you'd like to explore Readings 'class-A' square mile, starting at zin zan street and festering all the way down to the Dee road esatate in Tilehurst.
• I would suggest staying away from all those 'outdoor' spots mentioned. Unless you want to get nicked by a discarded syringe; or the police!
• Reading has been overtaken by beer swilling shiney corporate whores comming in from the surrounding urban wastelands intent on dissolving the town centre with their vomit and ill manners. Don't get me wrong, I'm all up for loosing it in the town centre bladdered on special brew thinking of imaginative places to bill up but I actually digest, not regurgitate my meals and I don't get into a fight 'cause I've had one larger top too many. Unfortunately the town centre is under cctv but fortunately there are bordering on no police, or vise versa, it depends on who you are. For a place to chill, I'd stay well out of the town centre and most of the parks unless there's a couple of you as there's too many rudeboys. The University grounds are good or palmer or prospect park during the day. Basically Reading has gone down since all the theme pubs moved in. Now follows quite an important message. If you work at the Pru or the I.B. and drink at Yate's or club med etc please think about the people who actually live in the town when you come to make your daily pilgramages of bastardisation and spread your anti social diseases. You may want to try Slough, I think it'll be more of your scene.
• Update: The hook-up spot of the Tudor Tavern has finally shutdown, although for once it has nothing to do with the facist police force in Reading (not as bad as LosAngeles in the states-but if our stupid government has anything to do with it, it will be). Just a change of management - place your bets that it reopens as a trendy winebar, with boring (mind numbing) popular techno dance music. Hardly of the Atari Teenage Riot school of techno....me thinks. Try the Rising Sun instead - I do.
• I'm an ex-Woodleyite and I can tell you it's a bleedin' miserable place to hang out in. Used to be great when it had the Aerodrome, air raid shelters and Raffles. Now it's just all houses...sniff.
• Tudor Tavern, Friar Street...still a none yuppie haunt. On Friday/Saturday night it's full of Goths from the local tech. college and university. If you want an alternative night out, and enjoy HEAVY(ish) rock discos, then the Tudor is your place....Warning it has been known, on previous management, to revert to dance crap. But at the moment, Chris (DJ) loves playing anything by "The Offspring". The beer garden is still off-limits (shut down by the local facist Police) - too much smoking going on !! Toilet's are ok. Don't abuse it though - they want to shut it down completely.
• If
• Kings Meadow Mapledurham playing fields
• At the station when its cold. theres also a well cool security bloke called Bertie!
• I used to hang around those gardens at night, the one's near the 3B's. It's a great place to meet up with other undesirables and night crawlers.
• The benches by the statue of Queen Vic by the 3B's pub. Perfect summer hang-out and nearby the Abbey ruins or the Forbury if you fancy a slash or a reefer.
• Costa Coffee in the railway station, still a great hang out spot used to be the only place to see some babes as they passed through to Heathrow or came of age and left Dreading town, that is changing slowly as the fruitbats come to shop and drink in the New Orifice Shopping Centre. Still a town edging on a cultural void The Most popular and greatest money making ventre being Brannigans rammed to the gills with fishbrained beings wearing their shiniest outfits. They have ELvis impersonators who don't dance and sing karaoke "popular 80's Covers abound". Even the Hallowed spot of alternative culture the Purple Turtle has become more mainstream with no more world Beers and big display counters for various Drinks promotions, The clientelle isn't the lively crazy bunch it used to be. There is a new Independant bar in town called Imaginatively called the Jazz club where the enviroment is authentic ANcient Arches where once elephants where stabled by a visiting circus. It is definately the best place to take a girl to impress her, with an incredible Restaurant serving a full A La Carte menu not cheap though approx £25 each for a 3 course. The music is refreshingly live and an education to anyone who thinks Jazz is for their dads. Funk abounds and it is truly friendly.
• The Virgin Megastore on Broad St. Not a place to hang around outside if you are over 16 and don't like gaggles of giggling girls. The University grounds. Lots of places that successive generations of teenagers "discover" and make their own little homes away from home. The benches overlooking the football pitches behind the bowling green in Palmer Park.
• Reading Railway Station or Palmer Park or Madjeski Stadium or Broad Street Mall.
• Reading Station, provided the self-styled paramilitary a.k.a. Station Security don't throw you out
• Forbury Gardens on a satarday afternoon. Loads of groups of 'youth sub-cultures', predominantly alternative, grungey types, skaters etc. Reading Station. The same people from the Forbury, only when it's too cold.
• Right, If you are looking for a laugh and don't mind 10 totally nuthard girls then the Abbey ruins is the lace to be on a Saturday afternoon from about 1 til 5 pm. We get totally off our faces and invite anyone over for a chat. We have our regular chatters, a guy called Tom (a bit of a weirdo if you ask me, he likes his feet massaged and he runs an over 18s club in the salvation army, my point precisely) and another three blokes called Steve, Christian and Italiano, yes that is a nickname. Anyway anyone is welcome and we are totally nutty Hugh Faringdon badgals who for some reason always end up grabbing the nearest blokes and playing spin the bottle. Why not give us a go, you've nothing to lose but your trousers!
• No-ones mentioned the Lakes in the university. It's quite a good palce to take a bottle of whiskey and a lady and you're sorted. A friend did this quite often and was successful on more than one occassion
• Most people now seem to meet outside the town hall. Convenient for the 3B's, Monks Retreat, Old Society, Yates and the new one next door I can't remember the name of. Excellent in summer when everyone sits outside.
• The Kebab van next to the Esso station out on the A4 (west), after 10pm. Widely acknowledged to do the best kebabs in Reading. Esso station has a supermarket attached to it for other munchies and drinks. Popular with students even though it's almost 8 miles from campus. Popular with bikers in the summer.
• The Murco garage over from the Royal Berks hospital is the 24 hour garage. You always seem to meet more people there than on the rest of the night out.
  The Murco garage is popular because it does the best Cornish Pasties in Reading - all night.
• Forbury Gardens.

The Knowhere Guide started out as a list of places to skateboard in the UK. It is a compilation of (unedited) information and views supplied by users like yourself. It is not a conventional tourist guide!

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Last updated: 2007-09-29